Shade-fixture.



AZEL C. HOUGH, OF JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO HOUGH SHADE CORPO- RATION, OF J'ANESVILLE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

SHADE-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916.

To all wiwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, Azin. C. Honor-r, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Janesville, in the county of Rock and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Shade-Fixture, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cord-supporting devices designed to be attached to flexible shades of the type that are capable of being rolled up and unrolled through the medium of cords, and consists of a member that is adapted to be hooked over the top molding of a shade, and is broken out to form a pointed tongue with which to secure one end of the roll-up cord and also to fasten said member to said molding, said member having an opening therein for a supporting screw, and being provided with a suitable lug for said cord to run in or slide through, all as hereinafter set forth.

The objects of my invention are, first, to produce a comparatively simple and inexpensive, yet strong and durable fixture, for so-called porch shades and the like, that can be readily attached to a shade and have as readily attached thereto the upper end of the roll-up cord for such shade, both attachments being secure and permanent, and, second, to provide means in connection with such fixture to fasten both the fixture and the shade molding upon which it is mounted to the part of the porch or building that supports the shade, whereby practically all of the strain which comes on the fixture- :11 ,d the shade from the cord, and would otherwise be sustained by said fixture and shade, is transferred directly to the aforesaid sup porting part of porch or building.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

I attain the objects and secure the advantages of my invention by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the central tongue is bent over to engage the cord and penetrate the upper molding, the latter being represented in cross-section, and said supporting screw appearing in full lines; F 1g. 4, a top plan of said fixture and a fragment of said molding, the tongue here being bent into operative and engaging posimediate slats 12, and warp strands 13, each of such moldings consisting of two pieces, as shown in Figs. 3 and 41, between which the corresponding terminals of said warp strands are received. A roll-up cord 14 is provided for the shade, such cord being long enough to extend from the top of the shade at the back, down under the bottom of the shade, when the latter is extended full.

length, up to the top in front, and then down again as far as may be desired. The construction and operation of these elements are old and well known, and require no ex tended explanation; furthermore, the details of construction may vary in difierent makes of shades. 1

Passing now to the fixture, it will be observed that the same comprises a front part or what may be termed a body 15, which is provided at the bottom with a hook or lug 16 for the cord 14 to run in or through, and which has an opening 17 therethrough, a hooked part that extends rearwardly from the top of said body, as shown at 18, and

then extends downwardly to form a lip 19, and a tongue 20. The aforesaid hooked rear part of the fixture is so proportioned that it fits over the molding 10, the body 15 being in front, the lip '19 behind, and the top 18 on top of said molding. The opening 17 is provided to receive a screw 21, which also passes through an opening 22 in the molding 10 behind said opening 17 The tongue is preferably struck out of the lip 19,'as shown in the first four views, but may be struck out of the top 18, as shown in Fig. 5, or out of the frontor body 15, as shown in Fig. 6; A slot 23 is left in the part out of which the tongue 20 is formed, and said tongue is capable of being turned or bent over to reenter with its free end such slot. The tongue should be formed with its free end sharp or pointed, substantially as shown at 24c,'so as to enable the same, after r'entering its slot 23, to be driven into the molding 10. The length of the tongue is sufiicient to permit the latter to be bent over the cord 14 and driven the required distance into the molding 10.

It will be seen that this fixture can be formed out of a single piece, of sheet-metal, with the aid of suitable punches and dies.

In practice, the fixture of the first four views is placed in proper position on the molding 10, and then the cord 14L near one end is laid in the angle, which the tongue 20 initially makes with the lip 19, and said tongue is bent over said cord, its pointed end 24 passing in the slot 23, and driven into said molding. l/Vhen the bent tongue 20 is driven into the molding 10,.said tongue firmly grips the cord 14, below a knot '25 that should be tied therein at what is now the upper end thereof, and securely holds said cord or said end against any reasonable downward pull thereon, the cord being tightly confined between the contiguous in the usual manner and by the usual means,

and the screw 21 is inserted in the openings 17 and 22 and screwed into the shade support, that is, into the part of the porch or building to which the shade is attached.

The cord 14, after having one end secured to the fixture, as explained, and which hangs down behind the shade, is brought forward under the shade, carried up in front of the same, passes through the lug l6, and left with the other end loosely pendant, as shown. The shade is rolled up by grasping the loosely pendant end of the cordlt and.

ting said loop to lengthen. During either I of these operations the weight carried by:

and the strain on the cord 14 comes directly on the fixture and the molding 10, as will be readily seen, but such weight and strain are in great measure, through the medium of thescrew 21, transferred to the porch or building supporting member. This enables me to use a lighter fixture, and relieves the and frequently would be detrimental.

If the tongue 20 be struck out of the top 18, as is the case with the fixture shown in Fig. 5, said tongue, when bent over to grasp the cord and enter into engagement with the molding, will securely hold the former, but cannot make as good an engagement with the latter as when said tongue is struck out of the lip 19, or out of the body 15 as in the last View. In other words, the tongue in the Fig. 5 construction enters the molding from above, instead of from one side or the other, and consequently would be liable to pull out in the event force which had a tendency to separate the fixture from the molding, or vice versa, were applied, but said tongue holds said fixture against endwise displacement. To supplement-this tongue and hold tions in the'same way as when struck out of the lip 19. In this construction the knot 25 is located below the tongue, when the latter is bent over the cord 14:, and said cord passes up, over, and down behind the knot is in front of the bent tongue, and passes backwardly and then downwardly. While it is true that the screw 21 fastens the fixture securely to the .molding, said screw is not used until the shade is actually installed, hence'means such as the tongue s needed to secure the fixture from the time it is applied to the shade by the manufac turer until said shade reaches the hands of the consumer and by him is hung up for a practical purposes.

Various modifications in shape, size, construction and arrangement of the parts and members of this device, such as will occur to one skilled in the art, and in addition to those hereinbefore specifically mentioned, may be made without departing from the spirit'of my invention In this connection, it should be noted that, al-

to -be the best medium for the purpose, I might use some other medium,such as a nail for example.

l/Vhat I claim as" my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.

1. As an improved article of manufacture, a shade fixture comprising a hook portion adapted to support the fixture from the'top of a shade, a tongue formed from though the supporting screw 21 is believed f I I I I fixture; and in theFig. 5 constructlon said said hook portion and adapted to be bent into engagement with a cord to hold the same, and at the same time to be driven into engagement with said shade to secure the fixture thereto, and a depending part adapted to support said cord and permit the latter to slide.

2. As an improved articleof manufacture, a shade fixture comprising a hook portion adapted to support the fixture from the top of a shade, a tongue formed from said hook portion and adapted to be bent into engagement with a cord to hold the same, and at the same time to be driven into engagement with said shade to secure said fixture in place, and a depending part for the running portion of said cord, said depending part having an opening therein to receive a member, as a screw, wherewith the strain on the fixture and shade, from said cord, is transformed from the fixture and shade to the part of the building to which the shade is attached.

3. The combination, with a shade having a perforated top member, and a roll-up cord, with a fixture comprising a supporting part to engage said top member, a part to engage and hold said cord, and a depending part for the running portion of said cord,'said depending part being perforated to correspond with the perforation in said top member, and a supporting member adapted to pass through the perforations, in said depending part and said top mem her, into a fixed support, whereby the strain on the fixture and shade, from said cord, is transferred from the fixture and shade to the fixed support.

AZEL G. HOUGH. Witnesses:

HAZEL T. WEIRICK, HELEN BRAND.

copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cent: each, by addressing the .Gommisaloner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

